Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SRI

Dental Hygienists

Administer oral hygiene care to patients. Assess patient oral hygiene problems or needs and maintain health records. Advise patients on oral health maintenance and disease prevention. May provide advanced care such as providing fluoride treatment or administering topical anesthesia.

Also called: Dental Hygienist, Hygienist, Licensed Dental Hygienist, Registered Dental Hygienist (RDH), Pediatric Dental Hygienist.

O*NET 29-1292.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $98,100; Middle half earn $83,570 to $108,480. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree; 75% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +7% · Much faster than average; 221,600 jobs in 2024, projected 237,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Dental hygienists".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Record and review patient medical histories.
Feel and visually examine gums for sores and signs of disease.
Examine gums, using probes, to locate periodontal recessed gums and signs of gum disease.
Clean calcareous deposits, accretions, and stains from teeth and beneath margins of gums, using dental instruments.
Provide clinical services or health education to improve and maintain the oral health of patients or the general public.
Chart conditions of decay and disease for diagnosis and treatment by dentist.
Expose and develop x-ray film.
Attend continuing education courses to maintain or update skills.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening3.8 / 5
Speaking3.5 / 5
Critical Thinking3.5 / 5
Writing3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.1 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.0 / 5

Knowledge areas

Medicine and Dentistry4.6 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.9 / 5
Psychology3.0 / 5
English Language2.8 / 5
Education and Training2.6 / 5
Computers and Electronics2.6 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic71
Investigative59
Artistic2
Social73
Enterprising12
Conventional55

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

dental practitioner · DE Zahnarzt/Zahnärztin · FR dentiste
specialist dentist · DE Fachzahnarzt/Fachzahnärztin · FR dentiste spécialiste
orthoptist · DE Orthoptist/Orthoptistin · FR orthoptiste
podiatry assistant · DE Podologieassistent/Podologieassistentin · FR assistant podologue/assistante podologue
dentistry lecturer · DE Hochschullehrkraft für Zahnmedizin · FR maître de conférences des universités-praticien hospitalier d’odontologie/maîtresse de conférences des universités-praticienne hospitalière d’odontologie
dental technician · DE Zahntechniker/Zahntechnikerin · FR technicien de fabrication de matériel dentaire/technicienne de fabrication de matériel dentaire

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Dental practitioners (2253)34,800 employed
Optometrists (2252)18,900 employed
Occupational therapists (2222)56,000 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Japan

Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “歯科衛生士”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.

Median monthly pay: ¥280,400; Middle half earn ¥247,000 to ¥298,100 a month.
Workers in the category: 54,510; Regular employees in firms of ten or more.

Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Is it a fit for you?

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